My map-making process in Inkarnate

Final map

Here is the finished product - process starts just below!

I used Inkarnate - a great and pretty simple tool for making maps

The Canvas

Start with a void - a vast and empty ocean canvas on which to paint the world!

Plot out the general shape

Here I planned out the general shape of the land using a large-size brush (size 64 for the outline, 128 to fill)

Refined coastlines

Then I pulled out the subtraction tool. This is, I believe, the most effective way to get some decent looking coastlines. Just set the size somewhere between 3 and 8ish and go to town on those coasts - coves, bays, peninsulas - whatever your heart desires!

Land elevations

I like to use the different textures to give a better sense of elevation (forest texture for higher elevation, grassland texture for medium elevation, and the plains texture for lower elevation)

Mountains and terrain

Next I added mountains and took a smaller brush of each texture (tuned the softness down to about .6-.7ish) and "squiggled" it around in the adjacent texture - this looks silly at first but it will eventually lead to a nicer blend between the textures as well as the illusion of hills and other terrain formations.

Refine the terrain

I then came back with the opposite texture, again a small brush with a lower softness (I think around .4-.5 this time) and cut back through a little

Refine some more

I then came back again with the smallest size brush at highest softness in areas that were sharp and unnatural looking - I continue doing this throughout the rest of the process but the bulk of it is done here.

I also took a couple of islands out as they just weren't making the cut for me.

Rivers

Next thing I added was, everyone's favorite, rivers!

I used the smallest size "subtraction" tool to carve out each river's path from source to sea, You can see I followed the elevation that I had already set as best I could.

What you'll see here will be only major rivers - there should be many more smaller rivers, streams, etc. that would be seen on a smaller scale, regional map

You'll also see a new marsh revealed itself in the southwest.

Trees

After rivers were in place, I added in trees to designate the larger forests, etc.

I also added in some new lakes in places that seemed most fitting for them to exist.

Names

And last but not least, names! I set down several cities and a lot of towns and gave some names to the mountain ranges and some of the forests and other areas. There's always room for more!

As you can see, this continent consists of 4 major nations, Temris, Northolk, Kemora, and Esma each consisting of a capital city as well as several larger towns/villages.

Hope this is helpful!